Halloween
by ApplesAndAliens
Summary: REUPLOADED FROM OLD ACCOUNT TO NEW ONE. Clint disappears from Tony's Halloween party and Steve hears strange noises coming from a closet, could it be? Sequel: will be uploaded later on tonight, I gotta run to a meeting.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Avengers.

* * *

It was about three weeks later and the day of Stark's Halloween party. I was getting dressed when BW burst through my door. I turned while pulling on my shirt and looked at her.

"Yes?" I asked, not bothering to ask her to knock, she never would. She looked me over and snorted, throwing a bag at me.

"Nice try, but you can't go as yourself." I looked at her indignantly.

"Why not?" I dropped the bag on my bed.

"Because I know four people are going as you? And it's lame. Get dressed and pick me up in fifteen minutes." She said, walking out of the room. I sighed and took off my costume and looked at what she gave me. And stared. And stared some more. Finally, after ten minutes of debating whether or not I could skip the party, I put it on, knowing that BW would probably just dress me if I took too long. I went into my bathroom to check myself and groaned. I was wearing a cowboy costume; complete with hat, sheriff's star, and (fake) pistol. _What the hell, BW?_ I walked out of my room, glowering, and knocked sharply on hers. BW exited, dressed in a leotard, cat ears, and tail, and jerked me into her room.

"Just a few adjustments…" She said before descending on me. She unbuttoned most of my shirt, had me remove the star and adjusted the chaps that I was wearing over the skin-tight-and-highly-unrealistic-jeans, and tied a bright red bandana around my neck, removed it, put it back, frowned, and finally decided she didn't like it on me. "Much better. Oh wait, you need a noble steed." She then thrust a stick with a horse head in my hands and smiled broadly. "Perfect, let's go!" I rolled my eyes and tossed the horse-stick-thing on her bed.

"Dress me up as you like; I'm not bringing _that_ with me." I said and she sighed.

"Fine, come on. But you're not allowed to button that shirt!" she said and I nodded, not really thinking.

I stood, finally, near the doors. I had been slowly migrating towards them for the past hour, while politely pretending to not notice the way everyone's eyes slid down my torso. _BW will pay. _I nudged the door open slowly and slipped out. As I quickly walked away from the party, I heard a by-now-familiar high-pitched giggle. _Oh no, not now…_ I turned to the sound and found myself in front of a closet. I closed my eyes a moment, took a deep breath and hoped I had just gone momentarily insane. I opened the door and sighed. Hawkeye sat there, surrounded by brightly colored wrappers, giggling to himself.

* * *

I forgot how in-friggen-sane I was when I wrote these. Wow. Well, Hawkeye on a sugar-high, what could go wrong?


	2. Chapter 2

Don't own the Avengers.

* * *

"Cap! You found me!" he said excitedly, opening another candy and pouring the powder in his mouth. "These are _really_ good, want one? They're called pixie sticks. I stole them from Natasha, shush don't tell her." He held one out and I sighed again, taking it.

"Hawkeye, why are you in the closet?" I asked, looking at the candy and deciding it couldn't hurt. I sat down, ripped it open and poured a little in my mouth. _It's just flavored sugar… and there's at least a hundred wrappers on the ground. Joy._ Hawkeye tilted his head and looked at me.

"How did _you_ know I'm in the closet?!" he responded, surprised, bouncing.

"Uh, cause I'm sitting in it with you?" I replied, confused. He blinked and looked around.

"Oohhhhhh, you meant _this_ closet, not the other one. I'm hiding." He said, eating more sugar. I stared at him. _Other closet? What?_

"What other closet?" I asked, moving closer to him so as to shut the door. _Don't think sober Hawkeye wants to be found in a closet…_

"You know, the one that gay people like to hide in? I don't think it's a very good hiding place though, you found me pretty quickly. Want another stick?" _Wait, then did Hawkeye think I was asking if he was gay earlier? And did he say he was? Why do I care? _I declined and folded up my knees. _This is not a very comfortable closet._

"Uh, ok… What are you hiding from? And how many of those have you eaten?" I asked, deciding against continuing _that_ confusing conversation. _Plus, sober Hawkeye will probably hide for years afterwards…_

"Natasha. She's scary and probably mad that I stole her candy, so I ran away. And I dunno… all day." He replied, bouncing faster, and I laughed shaking my head. _He's been eating these all day? __That's a lot of sugar… Though I suppose it's best just to let him crash and make sure he survives. _

"Good plan, smarter than I was." I said and he nodded quickly.

"Yea, she looks at people like they're dolls. It's freaky." He suddenly jumped up. "Let's go, it's too hot and I wanna run." Hawkeye then bolted out of the closet, I heard his footsteps sound down the hallway before they returned and he stuck his head back in. "Uh, Cap? How do we get out of Stark's house?" I smiled and stood up.

"Follow me. Think you can keep up?" He nodded eagerly and we were off.

We raced out of the house, mansion really, ignoring the looks from some the guests. He and I laughed as we ran, making it down the street before he suddenly tackled me.

"Gotcha, Cap! Taaaaaaaaaaaag!" He shouted, jumping off of me and sprinting away. Despite myself, I felt myself grinning broadly as I took off after him.

"I'm gonna get you, Hawkeye!" I called back and he tossed me a broad smile over his shoulder before he sped up.

"Nuh uh!"


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own the Avengers.

* * *

We stood, bent over, panting, about four miles past Stark's house. Hawkeye and I had played tag for a little over an hour and he was still quite sugar-struck. _When will this wear off?_ He straightened up, saw something and gasped loudly.

"Cap, look!" he exclaimed and I obediently looked, to see an animal shelter across the street. I looked back curiously at Hawkeye, to ask what was so amazing, to see him flying towards it. I rolled my eyes and followed quickly. He waved me over and darted inside the building, which was surprisingly still open at six PM. I walked in and looked around.

"Cap, look at this one! She's so cute." He was kneeling in front of a kennel where a small dog yipped at him. _A little small, but cute._ I nodded and wondered what we were doing. Hawkeye stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the pup. Looking between me and the dog, he frowned.

"No, she's too small. You need something… more." Hawkeye ran off again, jogging up and down the aisle. The woman at the cash register watched and looked at me, alarmed. She gestured for me to come over and I did.

"Is he… ok?" She whispered and I nodded, smiling reassuringly.

"Yes, he's just had a bit too much sugar… He doesn't do well with sugar." I replied and she looked relieved.

"Oh, ok. Huh, I thought only small children got like that…" she said, trailing off. "Anyways, you're very cute together." She smiled and I flashed a small one back before walking back to Hawkeye. _Wait, together as in dating?_ I shook the thought off and Hawkeye held my hand again. _I suppose we do look like we're together…_

"Cap, this one." He said seriously and I looked at the dog. The dog was a male and seemed, to me, to be a greyhound-dalmatian mix but oddly small for those breeds, only three feet long. I glanced at Hawkeye and he was staring at me. "This one. He's perfect." He said, sounding completely sober. I examined the dog, he had clear and intelligent-looking blue eyes, clean fur, and seemed rather relaxed. I hesitated for only a second before nodding.

"Yes, he is a smart looking pup." I said, not sure why we were dog shopping. Hawkeye smiled hugely and waved frantically at the woman.

"Ma'am! We want this doggie please!" She immediately looked towards me and I paused a moment before nodding, not sure why we were purchasing a dog. _Though, I did say I wanted one… Why not?_

"Yes, we would." I said and she smiled.

"Great, his name is Mikey. If you'll follow me, I just have some forms you need to sign." She said to me. She then turned to Hawkeye. "Sweetie, would you like to hold the leash for me?"

"YES!" he exclaimed and the woman and I shared a smile. She got the Mikey out and attached a leash, handing it to Hawkeye.

"Hold on tight, sweetie. Come on, it'll take about fifteen minutes to fill out all the forms. Cash or credit?" We walked, Hawkeye completely focused on the dog, and I was very glad I had brought my wallet. _Though I did not expect to be buying a dog… _

The woman at the shelter had pet supplies for sale, luckily, and I bought enough food to last a few days, as well as two bowls, the leash, his bed, and at the insistence of Hawkeye, several of Mikey's favorite toys. I bade the woman a nice night and we walked out of the store. _I just bought a dog... What?_ I looked at Hawkeye, who was skipping merrily, and then at my hand, holding the leash. Mikey and I shared a long gaze, as though he was also wondering what had just happened. Hawkeye suddenly stopped skipping and turned to me.

"Cap, you have a doggie now! Aren't you excited?!" He asked, bouncing on his heels. _Shouldn't the sugar high wear off soon? Wait, we need to get home, there's no way I can carry him, these bags, and walk Mikey home all at once. _

"Of course I am, Hawkeye. I'm just a little surprised." I replied. "Don't you think we should head home, Mikey probably wants to see where he lives…"Hawkeye nodded vigorously, dropping to his knees.

"Are you excited, doggie? Let's go home!" He turned and ran off, I waited a few seconds. He ran back and looked at me sheepishly. "Uhm... Which way is home?" I smiled and shook my head, heading the right direction. Hawkeye slipped the leash out of my hand took Mikey.

"I'll carry this one!" he said cheerfully.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

About five minutes later, and about thirty minutes away from home, Hawkeye had returned the leash and was leaning heavily into me.

"Caaaaaaaaaptain… Are we there yet? I'm sleepy." He said, yawning. I suppressed a groan, moved the bags to my right hand, which also held the leash, and wrapped my left arm around his waist, supporting him. Mikey barked, low, and I looked up to see a taxi. I quickly waved it down, accidentally hitting myself with the bags but not really caring. _Thank god._ The taxi driver raised his eyebrows at me.

"You seem like you need help… So I'll pretend that the dog isn't in my car. But if he pisses on the carpet, it's a hundred bucks." He said and I agreed quickly.

"Thank you so much." I replied, shoving Hawkeye none-to-gently into the car. He protested weakly but got in. Mikey clambered in and settled down, not complaining at all about the small quarters. The driver popped open the trunk and I tossed in the bags, quickly getting into the cab and giving him the address.

When we reached home, I gave the driver an extra $20 to not speak about this event, and I carefully got the bags and dog out of the car, to discover that Hawkeye was sleeping quite peacefully. I looked to the sky and groaned. _Why me? Whenever he falls asleep, it's always me. _Resigning myself to tomorrow's awkwardness, I tugged Hawkeye out of the car and gently scooped him up. I ignored the driver's chuckle, looped the bag's handles around my finger before shutting the trunk gently, and whistled for Mikey to follow, hoping he was as intelligent as he had so far proved himself to be. He was, and followed me peacefully into the house and to my room. I, for the THIRD time now, laid Hawkeye in my bed, covered him up. Mikey and I looked at each other for a long moment, before we walked away. I set up his food and water bowl, placed his bed next to my chair, and sat down in my chair. I reached down a hand, petting Mikey's head and considering the man who lay in my bed. Again. Mikey whined and I looked down, he sat on my feet with his heads on his paws.

"What's wrong, Mike?" I whispered and he whined again, biting my pant leg and tugging slightly. With a frown I stood up, guessing that he needed to use the bathroom. Mikey immediately bounded out of the room very quickly and I shook my head as I followed him. _Figures that a sugar-high Hawkeye would find a dog as fast as him._ After Mikey did his business, he ran off and I waited, hoping he didn't run away before I had a chance to collar him. He returned shortly, with a stick in his mouth and tail wagging. I smiled as I took it, making sure to throw it gently so it didn't go too far away. Mikey barked excitedly as he ran and I laughed. _It's midnight, Hawkeye is asleep in my bed, and I'm playing fetch with a dog. This has to be the weirdest yet best night I've spent in… a long time. _


	4. Chapter 4

Don't own the Avengers.

* * *

After about an hour, both man and beast were tired. I led Mikey back into the house and got us both a drink and a snack. I snuck back into my room, careful not to wake up Hawkeye, and slid into the shower for a quick wash-up. I was done in a few minutes and got out, dressing as fast as I could, I didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of Hawkeye waking to find me naked in front of him. I then checked to make sure my door was locked and Mikey hadn't somehow left my room while I was showering. He was on my chair and I smiled at him.

"Hey boy, if you're in my chair and Hawkeye is in my bed, where do I sleep?" I asked, quietly, and he whined at me again, dropping his head to his paws. "Come on boy, I bought you your bed. You should sleep in it." He growled, not threateningly, but low in his throat, almost like he was… scolding me. I raised my eyebrows. "What? I want to sleep." He turned to look at the bed and then at me. "Hawkeye's on the bed." I reasoned and thought about it. _I'm arguing… with a dog…_ "Alright, Mikey. I gave you a chance." I then went to pick him up and he shook his head at me, chuffing. "Come on, Mike. Your bed looks super comfy. And if I get in bed with Hawkeye… No, it'll end badly. Trust me, pup. Now, off my chair." The dog growled again, low in his throat, but got off my chair. He bumped against my leg and I smiled at him. Once I had sat down, pulling the lever that made the leg-and-foot-parts raise up, Mikey backed up and jumped onto me. I managed to not make any noise but looked at him. "Mike, a little warning next time. Good that I got the big chair; this would have ended rather badly if I bought something smaller." I whispered and he licked my face, settling across my lap. I shook my head and stroked his back. "Ah well, goodnight Mikey. I'll get you your collar tomorrow. Maybe Hawkeye will come with us." Mikey didn't respond, of course, and simply laid his head down. I smiled, reclining in my chair, petting my dog, and watching my… watching Hawkeye. _Not mine. _


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own Avengers.

* * *

I woke up, yawning, at around six in the morning, finding a lack of weight on my chest. I looked around, wondering where Mikey went and how he slid off me without my noticing, and saw a surprisingly adorable sight. Mikey lay, curled up, and Hawkeye lay next to him. Hawkeye's hand was resting in Mike's fur, still scratching every few seconds. I smiled as I watched them, then very sneakily I slid into my bureau, looking for the digital camera that BW had bought for my birthday. Finding it, I turned off the flash and carefully snapped a few pictures, quickly hiding it back in my bureau. _I'll never share them… but I want to remember this. _I smiled at them again, stretched, and went to get the bag of food. After pouring some food and refilling Mikey's water dish, I left to grab myself some breakfast. On my way, I ran into BW.

"Hey Cap. I didn't see you at the party… Did you by any chance see anyone run off with some pixie sticks? I had about twelve jumbo bags yet I couldn't find a single one at the party." She asked, linking arms with me and leaning her head on my shoulder. I quickly ran through my options. _He ate twelve bags?!_

"Uh, no. I left pretty early on though." I replied. She glanced at my face and smiled.

"Ah, so it's like that then… Alright, at least I know someone enjoyed them. Out of curiosity, why are you coated in dog hair?" I coughed nervously and she raised her eyebrows.

"I bought a dog." I answered, unlinking arms so I could grab the milk out of the refrigerator. When I stood up, BW was sitting on the counter with her eyebrows raised.

"So, you and Clint disappear along with twelve bags of pixie sticks, and now you have a dog. Uh huh, perfectly normal. And where is Clint on this fine, autumn morning?" she responded, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. I shrugged nonchalantly, grabbing a cup and pouring myself a drink.

"Why should I know?" I said, praying she didn't call my bluff. BW stared at me for a long, hard moment before jumping off the counter and standing very close to me.

"You're hiding something, Steve… And I will find out what." She said with a smirk and poking me in the chest. BW then took my glass of milk and walked out of the room. I let my air out in a whoosh, relaxing. I grabbed myself another drink and an apple and walked back to my room.

"Dog, I don't know why you won't let me by, but please let me out. Come on, before Cap ge-" Hawkeye said, stopping when I walked in the room. "Uh, hello Captain… nice dog."

"Yes, he's very well trained. You did a good job picking him out. Come here, Mikey." Mikey shook his head at Hawkeye and walked over, sitting down. "Good doggie, good job not letting Hawkeye escape." I scratched his head and Hawkeye stared at me.

"Uh, Cap. What do you mean…? And no, not good job." He replied, sitting down on my bed, resigned.

"Well, you apparently ate twelve bags of pixie sticks, hid in a closet, and I found you. We played tag for a while and then went dog shopping. I'm a little surprised you remembered that I wanted one, given that you had been shot in the shoulder." Hawkeye covered his face with his hands and Mikey jumped onto the bed with him. Mikey bumped his head into Hawkeye's shoulder until he relented and starting petting Mike. I smiled.

"Captain. Please tell me no one who knows us recognized us." He mumbled and I hesitated.

"Well, one taxi driver, but I bought his silence. Then there's the shelter lady, but it's not like we're going to run into her again. The only worry is that we weren't precisely stealthy leaving Stark's party, a few guests saw us run out. But none that I know by name and I don't think that anyone would believe them anyways." I answered and he shook his head, finally looking at me.

"Captain, if you ever catch me doing something like that, can you just duct tape me to a chair and not let me leave until I'm sober?" he asked, flushing. I paused. _I don't really want to… I mean… he's so much more, relaxed? No, that's not the word. He's just so much more… ok with himself. _I frowned at myself. _No, it's not safe for him. I'm being selfish._

"You know, you could just not do things like that." I replied, hating saying it. He frowned at me.

"Cap, you alright?" he asked. "You look like someone just took away your favorite toy." I blinked and quickly shook my head.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just, well it's nothing. I need to pick up some things for Mikey, you're welcome to join me if you'd like." I said, getting Mikey's leash and attaching it. I looked at Hawkeye and saw there was a surprisingly visible battle on his face. _I wonder if he'll come…_

Mikey walked away from me and I let go of the leash to allow it. He pawed Hawkeye's thigh and whined, tilting his head, quite obviously begging. I suppressed the urge to smile broadly when I saw Hawkeye's lips quirk slightly into a smile.

"Well, when you put it like that, dog…" He said, standing. Hawkeye took Mikey's leash and looked at me. "I apparently pick dogs very well… What did you say his name was?"

"Mikey." I answered and Hawkeye walked over with Mike.

"Mike, good name for him. Solid with a touch of fun…" He nodded, looking at the dog. I paused for a moment, suddenly amused. _Oddly similar to the one who picked him up, they're both fast, intelligent, and love to play. _"What's funny?" I blinked and felt my cheeks heat a touch.

"Nothing." I said. "Come on, we should get going."


End file.
